Saturday, February 27, 2016

Winter Holiday

My sister and nephew are down for a visit--my spouse didn't have to teach yesterday, and my nephew had a half-day school holiday, so as we planned, it was a good week-end for a winter visit.   In the past, we've met on Presidents Day week-end, but this year, my school celebrated differently, and Presidents Day week-end also included Valentine's Day.  I took the day off, as did my sister.

At one point on Thursday evening, I worried that they wouldn't be able to make it down at all.  Their plane was delayed and delayed, and I worried that as it got later, the flight might be cancelled altogether.  Happily, it was not.

Yesterday, after the late night Thursday at the airport, we took it easy.  What a delight to take it easy.  Some highlights from the day:

--We sat in the sun and read.  We forgot to put sunscreen on, but because it was cloudy and because it's February, we didn't get too much of a sunburn.

--We made one trip outside of the house to get steaks.  And since we were at the grocery store, we picked up all sorts of other things too.

--My 9 year old nephew LOVES Shirley Temples.  I loved this drink too, when I was a kid.  While we were at the grocery store, we got supplies:  ginger ale, grenadine, and maraschino cherries.

--We ate our steak dinners outside at the picnic table.  It was delightful weather, although a bit breezy.

--We put on our wetsuits and went in the pool.

--We had happy hour on the front porch.  Because we had a late lunch, we had cheese and crackers, our happy hour food, for dinner--my favorite dinner.

--My spouse gave motorcycle rides around the neighborhood.  At first my nephew was a bit scared of the noise.  But by the end of the day, he asked for an extra ride.

--We ended the day with a fire in the fireplace.  We had just the right amount of wood left.

--We played SkipBo, which was fun at first, but we were tired by then and ready for bed.

Today is my sister's birthday.  We'll probably celebrate in much the same way.

No comments: